A Reasonable Performance from the Pound This Week

Welcome to our next currency report, which looks at the position of the British pound against other leading currencies on the market. How did last week pan out for the pound sterling?

An overview of the currency markets for February 19th – February 23rd, 2018

The British pound got underway on 1.4035 against the US dollar last week, but we soon became mired in a series of losses as the week began. A mild loss sent us to 1.4008 on day one, but this was followed by three more disappointing days, taking us to 1.3895 by Thursday night. While Friday was better, improving significantly to 1.3985, it was not enough to recoup the losses we had made up to that point.

We were hoping for a better performance against the euro, and we did get a far better start in this part of the world. The pound began the week on 1.1260 before rising over the first two days to reach 1.1341 by Tuesday evening. You might guess there was some bad news to come then, but it only lasted for a day. By Wednesday night we had dipped to 1.1304, but two more encouraging days left us at 1.1371 by the end of the week – rather better than we had started with last week.

So, with results split thus far, where would we end up against the Hong Kong dollar? It turned out the pattern was much the same as it had been against the US dollar. We opened on 10.976 before dropping steadily over the first four days of the week. This took us to 10.873 by Thursday, before we edged back into more encouraging territory by reaching 10.941 on Friday night.

The pattern seen against the New Zealand dollar can be completely different from anything seen elsewhere. This was proven once more this week, as we began on 1.8977 and had two good days to start with. Tuesday’s closing rate was 1.9034, although we dipped on Wednesday, much as we had against the euro. This meant we finished that day on 1.8938, although from then on it was much more encouraging. By Friday night, the pound had managed a significant success by increasing its rate to 1.9176 against the Kiwi dollar.

So, could we expect a similar pattern against the Australian dollar as well? It would be nice to finish the week in a better position here too. We began on 1.7673, and the first two days did pan out the same, taking us to 1.7747 by Tuesday evening. The Wednesday dip occurred just the same as well, to 1.7729. And from then on, we had two better days to close out the week as we had against the Kiwi currency. Here, we managed to finish on 1.7875.

Notable events in the world of currency

Better news against the Canadian dollar

There was some good news this week if you knew where to look for it. For example, the pound did well by climbing from 1.7552 to 1.7755 against the Canadian dollar.

More of the same against the Swiss franc

Here too, the pound managed to perform well. We began trading on 1.2973 before climbing overall to reach 1.3082 on Friday, after a couple of dips.

A mild rise against the Icelandic krona

The pound managed another rise here, albeit a smaller one than we have seen elsewhere. From an opening rate of 140.606, it managed to reach 140.724 by the time the week was over.

While it wasn’t a whitewash of great results last week, it was encouraging to find some good news here and there for the British pound. It remains to be seen whether this will continue into the days and weeks ahead, though. Chances are things will become more uncertain, with falls seen alongside better results.

We hope to see some good results to bring you next week, but as always, we must go from one day to the next to find out what might occur. Will we have some good news for you next week? Come back then to find out.